See the problem is you didn't work on the project for the overwhelming majority of the time it was available. Why, therefore, should you ever expect to complete it?
And don't forget that they just turned the event back on as a quick/easy way to give us something to do while in lockdown, and while they're not all in the office. So not reprogramming the way the event runs ("why didn't they just make it so new people couldn't start the project?") or anything else that would take a bunch of work. It was just meant to be a nice simple diversion. A little gift. Not some big drama.
The announcement said up front it was mainly about the lobi, they made no secret of the fact that there was no way to get the ship start to finish, only that if you had ten days or less left to go you could finish it. It was also a great bonus source of dil if you did finish the ship off back in December. No false advertising there, it was all up front.
I wish they would have done something like this a few years ago, I came back to STO just a few days too late to finish off the Bajoran Interceptor and it would have been a tremendous boon.
All in all it was a very pleasant surprise that at the very least had something for everyone and for most people more than one thing.
Also during this limited time return, players that have not completed their progress toward the 2019 Grand Prize Ship – the Fek’Irhi Fe’Rang Dreadnought Carrier [T6] – may once more earn Daily Progress towards this mighty vessel, or to reduce the remaining Lobi Crystal buyout price.
No false advertising there. No misleading there. No bug there.
ok, so it works as intended. we go that. so there are two things then, just for sake of opposition POVs... (again, please note i paid out the difference for the ship, so i am looking at this as a third party now)
you offer this for those that didnt finish in winter to complete. yay! but now its diminished for those just starting. not equal in reality. you have now effectively chopped off the hands of those who were aiming for the ship. thus, causing posts such as this.
so, what about those that bought out the ship from the original winter event? was the original buyout zen or lobi? do they get a refund?
i am with you in all aspects of marketing and disclaimers from your point of view...i get it. but maybe, just maybe, they should have removed the ship completely and marketed it as a lobi winter run instead.
peace out.
Here's the key difference you're still getting a chance at the ship you otherwise wouldn't be getting. Instead of just slapping it in the mudd store and calling it a day, they're giving folks a chance to get it for a buyout that's far cheaper than it otherwise would be. That's a pretty big deal and not something to just sneeze at. If folks don't want to buy it they don't have to. They knew folks wouldn't be able to fully complete it but once again per the blog, the ship was not the main focus, but the lobi was. If folks want to take advantage of the lobi discount they can, otherwise they can choose not to get the ship or wait for it to hit Mudd's. That is 100% up to them. Once again folks had 5 weeks prior to this when the ship was last around to get the ship for free. As cold as this is going to sound, if folks couldn't do it 6 and a half weeks, that's not Cryptic's problem. Even then they're still giving you a chance to buy the ship out beyond what they otherwise normally would have and imo have bent over backwards on this to give folks every chance in the world at the ship that want it.
Also if you bought out the ship during the original run, you're welcome to ask them to refund the price you paid, but I can tell you right now with 99% certainty, they're not going to do it. It's the same logic as buying an item before it goes on sale. If you buy an item before it goes on sale, that's on you and not them. You're not entitled to come in and ask for a refund after. I get that folks were hoping it to be a full 20 days to get the ship, and I agree it should have been a zen buyout but that's neither here nor there at this point. They advertised up front exactly what was going on with the event, and again as cold as this will sound, if folks choose not to read that, it's 100% on the person and not Cryptic. I know it's not what some folks may want to hear but I would rather be blunt and honest than to sugarcoat it and seem like I'm lying to folks. If you want to try sending a ticket asking for a refund, that's on you, but I don't think you will find any success with it.
"Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment, because it will never come again." - Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek Generations
My one issue is that I had no way to not slot the project and "work" on it, except to not participate in the event at all. It's forced slotted and now I have an uncompleted project I have no intention of buying out (seriously 500 lobi is still insanely expensive for an at best mediocre ship that doesn't even look good imo).
It's like last years T6 ship event project, it too still just sits there with no option to get rid of it except paying them money to buy it out. It annoys me greatly that I can't be rid of it and now the same for the winter ship, who knows when that goes away, if ever.
You are not under any option to purchase those items and always have the option not to purchase them, or to buy them down the road should you decide you do in fact want them. Them even letting folks progress it at all after the fact is more then generous imo. If you don't want it then don't buy it as that is your right and option. Once again it's incumbent on the user to make informed decisions about events for themselves.
Here's an absolutely novel concept for you, different people's brains work differently and for some people having that uncompleted project hanging is a constant stone in the shoe, an annoyance bordering a pain that's difficult to ignore. So the options become to complete it (which can only be done by paying) or to simple skip the game because it's too big a pain to watch.
If they're that into giving people options then why not give us the option of deleting it? Like how hard could that be?
But you have a very narrow and rigid way of viewing the world and anything outside your own experience is clearly completely incomprehensible to you. But try to stretch your ability of putting yourself in someone else's place just this once maybe?
Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end of it.
ok, so it works as intended. we go that. so there are two things then, just for sake of opposition POVs... (again, please note i paid out the difference for the ship, so i am looking at this as a third party now)
you offer this for those that didnt finish in winter to complete. yay! but now its diminished for those just starting. not equal in reality. you have now effectively chopped off the hands of those who were aiming for the ship. thus, causing posts such as this.
so, what about those that bought out the ship from the original winter event? was the original buyout zen or lobi? do they get a refund?
i am with you in all aspects of marketing and disclaimers from your point of view...i get it. but maybe, just maybe, they should have removed the ship completely and marketed it as a lobi winter run instead.
peace out.
Here's the key difference you're still getting a chance at the ship you otherwise wouldn't be getting. Instead of just slapping it in the mudd store and calling it a day, they're giving folks a chance to get it for a buyout that's far cheaper than it otherwise would be. That's a pretty big deal and not something to just sneeze at. If folks don't want to buy it they don't have to. They knew folks wouldn't be able to fully complete it but once again per the blog, the ship was not the main focus, but the lobi was. If folks want to take advantage of the lobi discount they can, otherwise they can choose not to get the ship or wait for it to hit Mudd's. That is 100% up to them. Once again folks had 5 weeks prior to this when the ship was last around to get the ship for free. As cold as this is going to sound, if folks couldn't do it 6 and a half weeks, that's not Cryptic's problem. Even then they're still giving you a chance to buy the ship out beyond what they otherwise normally would have and imo have bent over backwards on this to give folks every chance in the world at the ship that want it.
Also if you bought out the ship during the original run, you're welcome to ask them to refund the price you paid, but I can tell you right now with 99% certainty, they're not going to do it. It's the same logic as buying an item before it goes on sale. If you buy an item before it goes on sale, that's on you and not them. You're not entitled to come in and ask for a refund after. I get that folks were hoping it to be a full 20 days to get the ship, and I agree it should have been a zen buyout but that's neither here nor there at this point. They advertised up front exactly what was going on with the event, and again as cold as this will sound, if folks choose not to read that, it's 100% on the person and not Cryptic. I know it's not what some folks may want to hear but I would rather be blunt and honest than to sugarcoat it and seem like I'm lying to folks. If you want to try sending a ticket asking for a refund, that's on you, but I don't think you will find any success with it.
And again you fail to understand. They're forcing a project on us that we have no option to refuse, except by not playing the event at all, and with no option to complete or otherwise get rid of except paying them. At least give us an option to delete them damn thing because as it is it just feels like scam and a way to pressure people to pay them.
Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end of it.
My one issue is that I had no way to not slot the project and "work" on it, except to not participate in the event at all. It's forced slotted and now I have an uncompleted project I have no intention of buying out (seriously 500 lobi is still insanely expensive for an at best mediocre ship that doesn't even look good imo).
It's like last years T6 ship event project, it too still just sits there with no option to get rid of it except paying them money to buy it out. It annoys me greatly that I can't be rid of it and now the same for the winter ship, who knows when that goes away, if ever.
You are not under any option to purchase those items and always have the option not to purchase them, or to buy them down the road should you decide you do in fact want them. Them even letting folks progress it at all after the fact is more then generous imo. If you don't want it then don't buy it as that is your right and option. Once again it's incumbent on the user to make informed decisions about events for themselves.
Here's an absolutely novel concept for you, different people's brains work differently and for some people having that uncompleted project hanging is a constant stone in the shoe, an annoyance bordering a pain that's difficult to ignore. So the options become to complete it (which can only be done by paying) or to simple skip the game because it's too big a pain to watch.
If they're that into giving people options then why not give us the option of deleting it? Like how hard could that be?
But you have a very narrow and rigid way of viewing the world and anything outside your own experience is clearly completely incomprehensible to you. But try to stretch your ability of putting yourself in someone else's place just this once maybe?
Here's an absolutely novel concept for you. How about you step aside from your own POV and consider those of us who were grateful for a chance to complete a project we had half-finished? Hmmm?
ok, so it works as intended. we go that. so there are two things then, just for sake of opposition POVs... (again, please note i paid out the difference for the ship, so i am looking at this as a third party now)
you offer this for those that didnt finish in winter to complete. yay! but now its diminished for those just starting. not equal in reality. you have now effectively chopped off the hands of those who were aiming for the ship. thus, causing posts such as this.
so, what about those that bought out the ship from the original winter event? was the original buyout zen or lobi? do they get a refund?
i am with you in all aspects of marketing and disclaimers from your point of view...i get it. but maybe, just maybe, they should have removed the ship completely and marketed it as a lobi winter run instead.
peace out.
Here's the key difference you're still getting a chance at the ship you otherwise wouldn't be getting. Instead of just slapping it in the mudd store and calling it a day, they're giving folks a chance to get it for a buyout that's far cheaper than it otherwise would be. That's a pretty big deal and not something to just sneeze at. If folks don't want to buy it they don't have to. They knew folks wouldn't be able to fully complete it but once again per the blog, the ship was not the main focus, but the lobi was. If folks want to take advantage of the lobi discount they can, otherwise they can choose not to get the ship or wait for it to hit Mudd's. That is 100% up to them. Once again folks had 5 weeks prior to this when the ship was last around to get the ship for free. As cold as this is going to sound, if folks couldn't do it 6 and a half weeks, that's not Cryptic's problem. Even then they're still giving you a chance to buy the ship out beyond what they otherwise normally would have and imo have bent over backwards on this to give folks every chance in the world at the ship that want it.
Also if you bought out the ship during the original run, you're welcome to ask them to refund the price you paid, but I can tell you right now with 99% certainty, they're not going to do it. It's the same logic as buying an item before it goes on sale. If you buy an item before it goes on sale, that's on you and not them. You're not entitled to come in and ask for a refund after. I get that folks were hoping it to be a full 20 days to get the ship, and I agree it should have been a zen buyout but that's neither here nor there at this point. They advertised up front exactly what was going on with the event, and again as cold as this will sound, if folks choose not to read that, it's 100% on the person and not Cryptic. I know it's not what some folks may want to hear but I would rather be blunt and honest than to sugarcoat it and seem like I'm lying to folks. If you want to try sending a ticket asking for a refund, that's on you, but I don't think you will find any success with it.
And again you fail to understand. They're forcing a project on us that we have no option to refuse, except by not playing the event at all, and with no option to complete or otherwise get rid of except paying them. At least give us an option to delete them damn thing because as it is it just feels like scam and a way to pressure people to pay them.
I have a question about this since the event interface is still a new change to me.
In the past, when there was an event project, you actually chose and slotted it on an individual character with progress on the slotted project only counting for that character. It would stay there until completed, even if the event was over and it remained unfinished.
Now, the event "projects" have their own tabs and track account-wide, not needing to be chosen or taking up one of a finite number of slots. As far as I have seen (and this is a point where I may be wrong; as I said, still new to it), once the event is over the "project" still displays for buyout purposes but, barring an unplanned pandemic-lockdown-influenced return, can no longer be progressed through gameplay.
From your concerns, I am guessing any partially completed projects remain on the events tab indefinitely? Or does it have a time limit?
I can see reasons why it would be kept there. Especially if the reward is offered in other ways later and the buyout price for a partial completion is lower than whatever the new cost would be. Anyone wanting the reward at that time should have the opportunity to make use of the partial progress discount.
If it were possible to delete the event, I can see a negative result being players who later want to use that discount contacting customer service to undo the delete because they earned it. That said, I also understand the mindset where it feels like having it sit there is a form of pressure to buyout the remaining price of the reward.
I'd say, since the event system is only about a year old, it has quite a bit of room for improvement. Maybe, if one does not exist already, start a (polite) suggestions thread offering a compromise where uncompleted events can be collapsed into their own category or otherwise hidden from the display. That would make sure they are still available later if minds are changed and would not have them as much "in your face" when going to the events page.
The Project gets its own Tab. If it's over it disappears. If it is not over or you're in a Buyout window there is a Tab. If it comes back there is a Tab. The Event Screen shows active Events, Winter is gone.
If you have no intention of Buying out, then don't Buyout or press the Button.
If you go to the Winter Wonderland when the Event is running, do the stuff you want. If you do an Activity that progresses the Event, then you are going to get some additional XP, some additional Expertise, an Ornament, and Progress for something you don't care about anyway to boot.
Except for the one Character that I had progress the Event (in my case the Bonus Dilithium) all of my other Characters there were there to slot Winter Doff Assignments, by the Friendly Customer Service Agent.
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
ok, so it works as intended. we go that. so there are two things then, just for sake of opposition POVs... (again, please note i paid out the difference for the ship, so i am looking at this as a third party now)
you offer this for those that didnt finish in winter to complete. yay! but now its diminished for those just starting. not equal in reality. you have now effectively chopped off the hands of those who were aiming for the ship. thus, causing posts such as this.
so, what about those that bought out the ship from the original winter event? was the original buyout zen or lobi? do they get a refund?
i am with you in all aspects of marketing and disclaimers from your point of view...i get it. but maybe, just maybe, they should have removed the ship completely and marketed it as a lobi winter run instead.
peace out.
Here's the key difference you're still getting a chance at the ship you otherwise wouldn't be getting. Instead of just slapping it in the mudd store and calling it a day, they're giving folks a chance to get it for a buyout that's far cheaper than it otherwise would be. That's a pretty big deal and not something to just sneeze at. If folks don't want to buy it they don't have to. They knew folks wouldn't be able to fully complete it but once again per the blog, the ship was not the main focus, but the lobi was. If folks want to take advantage of the lobi discount they can, otherwise they can choose not to get the ship or wait for it to hit Mudd's. That is 100% up to them. Once again folks had 5 weeks prior to this when the ship was last around to get the ship for free. As cold as this is going to sound, if folks couldn't do it 6 and a half weeks, that's not Cryptic's problem. Even then they're still giving you a chance to buy the ship out beyond what they otherwise normally would have and imo have bent over backwards on this to give folks every chance in the world at the ship that want it.
Also if you bought out the ship during the original run, you're welcome to ask them to refund the price you paid, but I can tell you right now with 99% certainty, they're not going to do it. It's the same logic as buying an item before it goes on sale. If you buy an item before it goes on sale, that's on you and not them. You're not entitled to come in and ask for a refund after. I get that folks were hoping it to be a full 20 days to get the ship, and I agree it should have been a zen buyout but that's neither here nor there at this point. They advertised up front exactly what was going on with the event, and again as cold as this will sound, if folks choose not to read that, it's 100% on the person and not Cryptic. I know it's not what some folks may want to hear but I would rather be blunt and honest than to sugarcoat it and seem like I'm lying to folks. If you want to try sending a ticket asking for a refund, that's on you, but I don't think you will find any success with it.
And again you fail to understand. They're forcing a project on us that we have no option to refuse, except by not playing the event at all, and with no option to complete or otherwise get rid of except paying them. At least give us an option to delete them damn thing because as it is it just feels like scam and a way to pressure people to pay them.
They are not forcing a project on you. You can decide not to play the event at all, you have always had that option. This is not a scam. This is for those who were not able to complete the Winter Event the first time around and no they are not pressuring people to pay them. It is on those who did not look at the dates and realize that they could not just get the ship the way they thought they could normally with the Winter Event.
Folks had 5 weeks to complete the project during the initial run of winter event,
Which was several months ago. What about all the new people who have started playing since December? These two events were far enough apart that you can't consider them an extension or connected at all. Tons of new players could have joined during the 3.5 months since the event ended. Those people are the issue. Not the people who didn't manage to finish it at christmas and still can't manage to do so. Anyone who started playing during the last 3.5 months would not have had any progress on the ship, would not have had enough time to generate zen to buy boxes (nor would they likely have been stockpiling it that hard at this point any way) and would likely be looking at spending 3300-5500 zen to complete the first ship project they've run across.
if they had no intention of doing that, the daily progress meant nothing to them and while others were all getting dilithium because they finished their ship project in december, they're in a position to both get no ship and get no bonus dilithium because they're getting daily progress on a ship they could never get.
Folks had 5 weeks to complete the project during the initial run of winter event,
Which was several months ago. What about all the new people who have started playing since December? These two events were far enough apart that you can't consider them an extension or connected at all. Tons of new players could have joined during the 3.5 months since the event ended. Those people are the issue. Not the people who didn't manage to finish it at christmas and still can't manage to do so. Anyone who started playing during the last 3.5 months would not have had any progress on the ship, would not have had enough time to generate zen to buy boxes (nor would they likely have been stockpiling it that hard at this point any way) and would likely be looking at spending 3300-5500 zen to complete the first ship project they've run across.
if they had no intention of doing that, the daily progress meant nothing to them and while others were all getting dilithium because they finished their ship project in december, they're in a position to both get no ship and get no bonus dilithium because they're getting daily progress on a ship they could never get.
This is a bonus partial re-run, and no one is forced to participate.
People who join in 2 months won't be able to complete the 1,000 lobi - T6 ship project for free. People who join in mid-Summer won't be able to get the Summer ship for free.
Limited-time events are limited time. If you join too late, you miss the event. That's MMO life.
As already mentioned, this partial event was run as a bonus to give people something to do. Cryptic couldn't make changes to anything besides the dates because of staff working from home.
I think it's a better choice to help players than to do nothing, even if some players only get to have fun instead of also earning another free ship. Those players can still get the Summer ship, the next Winter ship, and so on.
Folks had 5 weeks to complete the project during the initial run of winter event,
Which was several months ago. What about all the new people who have started playing since December? These two events were far enough apart that you can't consider them an extension or connected at all. Tons of new players could have joined during the 3.5 months since the event ended. Those people are the issue. Not the people who didn't manage to finish it at christmas and still can't manage to do so. Anyone who started playing during the last 3.5 months would not have had any progress on the ship, would not have had enough time to generate zen to buy boxes (nor would they likely have been stockpiling it that hard at this point any way) and would likely be looking at spending 3300-5500 zen to complete the first ship project they've run across.
if they had no intention of doing that, the daily progress meant nothing to them and while others were all getting dilithium because they finished their ship project in december, they're in a position to both get no ship and get no bonus dilithium because they're getting daily progress on a ship they could never get.
It is my understanding that the recurrence of the Winter event was not a pre-planned thing. If not for the nationwide lockdowns, it probably would not have happened at all.
I can see the argument that bringing an event back without taking into account new players would be a bad idea, but all things being equal, the people who started after the event ended before would never have had a chance at it at all.
Looking at it another way, the first long event campaign for a T6 ship coupon only had one event remaining when I started. There was no way for me to complete all the requirements to get the coupon without using the buyout option. I had a choice and decided to not try for it that time around, but I could still get the other reward for the last event. In this case the "other" was the 200 Lobi pack.
None of the answers are going to be ideal for this situation and hopefully it does not have to come up again after the world gets closer to whatever passes for normal these days.
Not that I agree with it but Cryptic has practiced their "exclusivity" & fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) tactics for a long while now. If one doesn't participate when something is initially active or isn't playing at all Cryptic has no obligation to include previous non-participants of any such event(s) or even any new players in allowing to achieve a previous reward. Again, I don't agree with that type of tactic but Cryptic does. It should be viewed as a boon if Cryptic does allow any "catch-up" chance & then it is usually with some sort of inflated price for not participating initially.
Reading through the whole thread I still find this complaint coming from an entitled &/or ignorant point of view & with no merit. All the information was available describing the intent: the initial event's information & this bonus event's information. The emphasis was even placed on the 200 lobi opportunity. The secondary was possibly finishing-up the ship. Not beginning a whole new event for the ship. Perhaps the older information wasn't spoon-fed but it was still available along with the current event's information.
I've missed out on some previous events either by decision or real-life. Some don't bother me & some I regret. Learn to live with it & try to grow from it. I still think Cryptic would be wise to allow at least one possibly two events a year for such catch-up scenarios on ships &/or items. I think it would benefit the STO player-base while not harming the game besides some egos that already had previous rewards possibly. Perhaps that is why we're seeing more & more examples of paying premium prices for previous rewarded items???
Folks had 5 weeks to complete the project during the initial run of winter event,
Which was several months ago. What about all the new people who have started playing since December? These two events were far enough apart that you can't consider them an extension or connected at all. Tons of new players could have joined during the 3.5 months since the event ended. Those people are the issue. Not the people who didn't manage to finish it at christmas and still can't manage to do so. Anyone who started playing during the last 3.5 months would not have had any progress on the ship, would not have had enough time to generate zen to buy boxes (nor would they likely have been stockpiling it that hard at this point any way) and would likely be looking at spending 3300-5500 zen to complete the first ship project they've run across.
if they had no intention of doing that, the daily progress meant nothing to them and while others were all getting dilithium because they finished their ship project in december, they're in a position to both get no ship and get no bonus dilithium because they're getting daily progress on a ship they could never get.
This is a bonus partial re-run, and no one is forced to participate.
People who join in 2 months won't be able to complete the 1,000 lobi - T6 ship project for free. People who join in mid-Summer won't be able to get the Summer ship for free.
Limited-time events are limited time. If you join too late, you miss the event. That's MMO life.
As already mentioned, this partial event was run as a bonus to give people something to do. Cryptic couldn't make changes to anything besides the dates because of staff working from home.
I think it's a better choice to help players than to do nothing, even if some players only get to have fun instead of also earning another free ship. Those players can still get the Summer ship, the next Winter ship, and so on.
People who joined 2 months ago could buy out the previous event for 2000 zen. I know. i did it. I came back after a 2 year hiatus just after that event ended. That's an entire event for 2000 zen. if this ship was 2000 zen and people could get 50% progress and buy it out for 1000 zen, that would not be that large of a burden, but as I've already demonstrated, we're looking at a buyout of 3300-5500 zen for this ship because it is in lobi.
As far as cryptic making changes goes, computers work across the internet. Working from home doesn't preclude them from doing anything.
I've missed out on some previous events either by decision or real-life. Some don't bother me & some I regret. Learn to live with it & try to grow from it.
But when you missed out, did cryptic come back and dangle half an event in your face? That's the difference.
We're talking mostly about players who simply were not playing in December. If this was an extra 10 days tacked on the end of the event for whatever reason, fine. It's just an extension, but 3.5 months later gives plenty of time for plenty of new players to show up, and honestly be let down by an event. Their daily progress means nothing to do them. They couldn't grind for dil, and they couldn't finish the ship.
"welcome new players here is an event that you can barely participate in because we don't care about you, thanks for playing!"
For crying out loud. When the Hallmark Channel airs their previous Christmas Movies in the Summer ('Christmas in July') people are not expecting that they are getting another Christmas Day to celebrate.
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
For crying out loud. When the Hallmark Channel airs their previous Christmas Movies in the Summer ('Christmas in July') people are not expecting that they are getting another Christmas Day to celebrate.
Not remotely the same thing and you know it. This is probably the first time that they've rerun an event like this, and they did it poorly. They could have at least given people a choice who had no hope of completing the ship to "cancel" the ship if they didn't want it so that they could have done the daily dil instead, or figured out a way to give some bonus progression to people who weren't around 4 months ago. (e.g. if your progression was 0, set it to 7-9 to start) It's easy to tell from the replies in this thread who did the event in December and who didn't.
The fact of the matter is, Cryptic opted to rerun the event. The real discussion is about how they did it. I lucked out, I had 200 lobi sitting around from years ago got the 200 and opened a very small number of boxes with keys that I already had and got the lobi needed to buy it out .
But, I am not unsympathetic to new players who weren't playing in december and who may have seen this as their first ship event.
FOMO isn't an issue. They have the freedom to do as they see fit with their game.
I rest my case as this is a quality concern (A design bug). Feel free to close this topic as you see fit. We have not seen any official response so far, just opinions from other users or moderators.
Moderators are volunteers and not staff members. Keep that in mind.
Have a nice day everyone. Looking forward to the next events!
FOMO isn't an issue. They have the freedom to do as they see fit with their game.
I rest my case as this is a quality concern (A design bug). Feel free to close this topic as you see fit. We have not seen any official response so far, just opinions from other users or moderators.
Moderators are volunteers and not staff members. Keep that in mind.
Have a nice day everyone. Looking forward to the next events!
You will not see a response by anyone from Cryptic on this forum. If you require staff input, this is not the place to post. Community opinion is the best you will get.
I rest my case as this is a quality concern (A design bug).
Even if you think something is a poor decision (ethically, marketing-wise, gameplay-wise, whatever), that doesn't make it a "bug". Everything is working correctly, you just don't like how it's working.
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
So...despite the fact that the devs don't reply to ANYONE in this forum, you think that you are special and your little concern is of such importance that they should break that and hop right on over to answer you...right....
Comments
I wish they would have done something like this a few years ago, I came back to STO just a few days too late to finish off the Bajoran Interceptor and it would have been a tremendous boon.
All in all it was a very pleasant surprise that at the very least had something for everyone and for most people more than one thing.
No false advertising there. No misleading there. No bug there.
Also if you bought out the ship during the original run, you're welcome to ask them to refund the price you paid, but I can tell you right now with 99% certainty, they're not going to do it. It's the same logic as buying an item before it goes on sale. If you buy an item before it goes on sale, that's on you and not them. You're not entitled to come in and ask for a refund after. I get that folks were hoping it to be a full 20 days to get the ship, and I agree it should have been a zen buyout but that's neither here nor there at this point. They advertised up front exactly what was going on with the event, and again as cold as this will sound, if folks choose not to read that, it's 100% on the person and not Cryptic. I know it's not what some folks may want to hear but I would rather be blunt and honest than to sugarcoat it and seem like I'm lying to folks. If you want to try sending a ticket asking for a refund, that's on you, but I don't think you will find any success with it.
Star Trek Online volunteer Community Moderator
Here's an absolutely novel concept for you, different people's brains work differently and for some people having that uncompleted project hanging is a constant stone in the shoe, an annoyance bordering a pain that's difficult to ignore. So the options become to complete it (which can only be done by paying) or to simple skip the game because it's too big a pain to watch.
If they're that into giving people options then why not give us the option of deleting it? Like how hard could that be?
But you have a very narrow and rigid way of viewing the world and anything outside your own experience is clearly completely incomprehensible to you. But try to stretch your ability of putting yourself in someone else's place just this once maybe?
And again you fail to understand. They're forcing a project on us that we have no option to refuse, except by not playing the event at all, and with no option to complete or otherwise get rid of except paying them. At least give us an option to delete them damn thing because as it is it just feels like scam and a way to pressure people to pay them.
Here's an absolutely novel concept for you. How about you step aside from your own POV and consider those of us who were grateful for a chance to complete a project we had half-finished? Hmmm?
And here's a link to that word you seem not to understand https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grateful
I have a question about this since the event interface is still a new change to me.
In the past, when there was an event project, you actually chose and slotted it on an individual character with progress on the slotted project only counting for that character. It would stay there until completed, even if the event was over and it remained unfinished.
Now, the event "projects" have their own tabs and track account-wide, not needing to be chosen or taking up one of a finite number of slots. As far as I have seen (and this is a point where I may be wrong; as I said, still new to it), once the event is over the "project" still displays for buyout purposes but, barring an unplanned pandemic-lockdown-influenced return, can no longer be progressed through gameplay.
From your concerns, I am guessing any partially completed projects remain on the events tab indefinitely? Or does it have a time limit?
I can see reasons why it would be kept there. Especially if the reward is offered in other ways later and the buyout price for a partial completion is lower than whatever the new cost would be. Anyone wanting the reward at that time should have the opportunity to make use of the partial progress discount.
If it were possible to delete the event, I can see a negative result being players who later want to use that discount contacting customer service to undo the delete because they earned it. That said, I also understand the mindset where it feels like having it sit there is a form of pressure to buyout the remaining price of the reward.
I'd say, since the event system is only about a year old, it has quite a bit of room for improvement. Maybe, if one does not exist already, start a (polite) suggestions thread offering a compromise where uncompleted events can be collapsed into their own category or otherwise hidden from the display. That would make sure they are still available later if minds are changed and would not have them as much "in your face" when going to the events page.
If you have no intention of Buying out, then don't Buyout or press the Button.
If you go to the Winter Wonderland when the Event is running, do the stuff you want. If you do an Activity that progresses the Event, then you are going to get some additional XP, some additional Expertise, an Ornament, and Progress for something you don't care about anyway to boot.
Except for the one Character that I had progress the Event (in my case the Bonus Dilithium) all of my other Characters there were there to slot Winter Doff Assignments, by the Friendly Customer Service Agent.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
They are not forcing a project on you. You can decide not to play the event at all, you have always had that option. This is not a scam. This is for those who were not able to complete the Winter Event the first time around and no they are not pressuring people to pay them. It is on those who did not look at the dates and realize that they could not just get the ship the way they thought they could normally with the Winter Event.
Which was several months ago. What about all the new people who have started playing since December? These two events were far enough apart that you can't consider them an extension or connected at all. Tons of new players could have joined during the 3.5 months since the event ended. Those people are the issue. Not the people who didn't manage to finish it at christmas and still can't manage to do so. Anyone who started playing during the last 3.5 months would not have had any progress on the ship, would not have had enough time to generate zen to buy boxes (nor would they likely have been stockpiling it that hard at this point any way) and would likely be looking at spending 3300-5500 zen to complete the first ship project they've run across.
if they had no intention of doing that, the daily progress meant nothing to them and while others were all getting dilithium because they finished their ship project in december, they're in a position to both get no ship and get no bonus dilithium because they're getting daily progress on a ship they could never get.
This is a bonus partial re-run, and no one is forced to participate.
People who join in 2 months won't be able to complete the 1,000 lobi - T6 ship project for free. People who join in mid-Summer won't be able to get the Summer ship for free.
Limited-time events are limited time. If you join too late, you miss the event. That's MMO life.
As already mentioned, this partial event was run as a bonus to give people something to do. Cryptic couldn't make changes to anything besides the dates because of staff working from home.
I think it's a better choice to help players than to do nothing, even if some players only get to have fun instead of also earning another free ship. Those players can still get the Summer ship, the next Winter ship, and so on.
It is my understanding that the recurrence of the Winter event was not a pre-planned thing. If not for the nationwide lockdowns, it probably would not have happened at all.
I can see the argument that bringing an event back without taking into account new players would be a bad idea, but all things being equal, the people who started after the event ended before would never have had a chance at it at all.
Looking at it another way, the first long event campaign for a T6 ship coupon only had one event remaining when I started. There was no way for me to complete all the requirements to get the coupon without using the buyout option. I had a choice and decided to not try for it that time around, but I could still get the other reward for the last event. In this case the "other" was the 200 Lobi pack.
None of the answers are going to be ideal for this situation and hopefully it does not have to come up again after the world gets closer to whatever passes for normal these days.
Reading through the whole thread I still find this complaint coming from an entitled &/or ignorant point of view & with no merit. All the information was available describing the intent: the initial event's information & this bonus event's information. The emphasis was even placed on the 200 lobi opportunity. The secondary was possibly finishing-up the ship. Not beginning a whole new event for the ship. Perhaps the older information wasn't spoon-fed but it was still available along with the current event's information.
I've missed out on some previous events either by decision or real-life. Some don't bother me & some I regret. Learn to live with it & try to grow from it. I still think Cryptic would be wise to allow at least one possibly two events a year for such catch-up scenarios on ships &/or items. I think it would benefit the STO player-base while not harming the game besides some egos that already had previous rewards possibly. Perhaps that is why we're seeing more & more examples of paying premium prices for previous rewarded items???
People who joined 2 months ago could buy out the previous event for 2000 zen. I know. i did it. I came back after a 2 year hiatus just after that event ended. That's an entire event for 2000 zen. if this ship was 2000 zen and people could get 50% progress and buy it out for 1000 zen, that would not be that large of a burden, but as I've already demonstrated, we're looking at a buyout of 3300-5500 zen for this ship because it is in lobi.
As far as cryptic making changes goes, computers work across the internet. Working from home doesn't preclude them from doing anything.
But when you missed out, did cryptic come back and dangle half an event in your face? That's the difference.
We're talking mostly about players who simply were not playing in December. If this was an extra 10 days tacked on the end of the event for whatever reason, fine. It's just an extension, but 3.5 months later gives plenty of time for plenty of new players to show up, and honestly be let down by an event. Their daily progress means nothing to do them. They couldn't grind for dil, and they couldn't finish the ship.
"welcome new players here is an event that you can barely participate in because we don't care about you, thanks for playing!"
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
Not remotely the same thing and you know it. This is probably the first time that they've rerun an event like this, and they did it poorly. They could have at least given people a choice who had no hope of completing the ship to "cancel" the ship if they didn't want it so that they could have done the daily dil instead, or figured out a way to give some bonus progression to people who weren't around 4 months ago. (e.g. if your progression was 0, set it to 7-9 to start) It's easy to tell from the replies in this thread who did the event in December and who didn't.
The fact of the matter is, Cryptic opted to rerun the event. The real discussion is about how they did it. I lucked out, I had 200 lobi sitting around from years ago got the 200 and opened a very small number of boxes with keys that I already had and got the lobi needed to buy it out .
But, I am not unsympathetic to new players who weren't playing in december and who may have seen this as their first ship event.
Players who joined after January can still get 200 lobi, that's not nothing.
I rest my case as this is a quality concern (A design bug). Feel free to close this topic as you see fit. We have not seen any official response so far, just opinions from other users or moderators.
Moderators are volunteers and not staff members. Keep that in mind.
Have a nice day everyone. Looking forward to the next events!
You will not see a response by anyone from Cryptic on this forum. If you require staff input, this is not the place to post. Community opinion is the best you will get.
Even if you think something is a poor decision (ethically, marketing-wise, gameplay-wise, whatever), that doesn't make it a "bug". Everything is working correctly, you just don't like how it's working.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
^^ This
Serious entitlement issues.